


The Calm After the Storm

by writingramblr



Category: Firefly, Serenity (2005)
Genre: Drabble, F/M, Fluff, Gun cleaning, Insomnia, present for a friend
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-06
Updated: 2014-04-06
Packaged: 2018-01-18 09:59:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 866
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1424338
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/writingramblr/pseuds/writingramblr
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jayne Cobb was a simple man, he liked only a few activities, besides finishing a job, and he loved cleaning his guns. It was quiet, calming, and sometimes downright relaxing.</p><p>~Takes place after the events of Serenity~</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Calm After the Storm

**Author's Note:**

> Written for a friend, and boy was it a challenge to keep clean...don't look at me like that!

Jayne Cobb was a simple man, he liked only a few activities, besides finishing a job, and he loved cleaning his guns. It was quiet, calming, and sometimes downright relaxing.

That evening found him in the kitchen, at around sometime after midnight, depending on what world Serenity was nearest. Most the rest of the ship had gone to bed hours earlier. Jayne hadn’t been able to sleep recently, and he hated to admit it to Mal, he didn’t want to worry him.

The captain may have been a right pain sometimes, but he considered the ship’s crew his family, and would probably be a bit concerned if his right hand man wasn’t getting enough sleep.

Jayne knew the best thing for insomnia was to try and relax. The best way to do that? Clean his guns.

So that was how she found him.

River Tam.

The strangest passenger Serenity had ever had.

She had proven herself worthy to be considered among the crew, and since she had such fine piloting skills, even an invaluable member of said crew.

She could also knock a grown man out cold in less than 30 seconds, but that was only in the case of an emergency.

She padded quietly down and out of her room, following the smell of fresh coffee and gun oil.

She was well acquainted with how guns smelled. Old ones, new ones, though Simon refused to let her have one of her own, insisting they were much too dangerous, which she thought was rather silly, she still loved them.

Someday she would sneak one and prove how careful she could be. Or maybe she could ask Kaylee to distract him whilst she simply borrowed one.

She smiled dreamily to herself.

She peered around the door, finding Jayne hovering over the wooden table they usually shared meals on, which now was covered by a blanket and had several guns taken apart on it. The coffee smell was coming from the large mug that sat on the counter behind where Jayne stood. River was going to wait until he turned his back to her, and try and sneak up on him, just to hear him squeal, but then she decided that might wake the ship, so she coughed.

"Oh. It’s you. Of course. What, are you trying to steal more years of my life than that last firefight did?"

Jayne rubbed his hand over his face, trying to remain calm.

River had still startled him immensely, but he managed to disguise just how much.

The dark haired, wide eyed girl moved around the table, and slinked closer to the mug of steaming coffee. Her hands were inches from it, when Jayne slapped them away.

"Don’t touch that. If you have any of that and are up all night, I’m gonna hear it from your overprotective brother."

River smiled at him, and Jayne felt his stomach twist in knots. That expression wasn’t suited for the girl’s face.

She looked better when she was seconds from decking a man.

Just what he wasn’t.

Before she came along that was.

"Now go on. Git on back to bed with you. It’s way too late for you to be roaming the ship."

River shrugged,

"It’s not too late for you to be up. Who’s going to tell Simon about this anyway? Not me. Now, tell me what you’re doing. If I’m going to have one of these someday, I want to know how to clean it."

River picked up one of the pieces, and Jayne refrained from slapping her hand again.

He’d caught her eye, and she merely blinked, but it said volumes. She could easily break his hand, without flinching. So it would be best if he stopped hitting her.

He rolled his eyes, and gently, _gently_ pulled the piece from her fingers.

"Let me show you how these go back together, okay? I don’t want these guns to end up look like some sort of Frankenstein’s monster."

River nodded wordlessly, and watched him carefully.

She could get used to this. She thought she was the only one who suffered from insomnia. She took a peek into Jayne’s psyche when he was focusing on matching the gun pieces back together.

He’d been suffering from it for nearly a week.

She glanced over at the coffee mug. That wouldn’t help his sleep cycle get back on track.

While he wasn’t looking, she snuck around him and deftly kicked the mug off the counter.

The loud smashing of pottery was enough to cause his calm to break again.

"Gorramit! What did you do?"

Once he’d picked up all the sharp pieces, he sighed, and shrugged,

"At least you didn’t get any on you. That was piping hot."

River looked at him with wide eyes,

"Oops. Sorry about that. I’ll help you put all these back together, and then I’ll go back to bed. I promise."

Jayne shrugged,

"Fine with me. At least this will be a life lesson for you. Now watch carefully…"  
River nodded, and moved closer, until she was right by his shoulder, observing how he quickly and easily turned a scattered table full of pieces into three functioning weapons.

***

**END**


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